Familiar Face III: Agraciana
by Ashni
Summary: Sneak preview for Ombretta inside, so check it out! Agraciana: Sydney must come to terms with her vengeful sister and what she has learned about her past.
1. Before Morning's Light

Title: AGRACIANA (Familiar Face, book three)  
Author: Nicole  
Author's Note: The last story in my series that began with Mosemotsane and continued with Mysteria. Agraciana means "forgiveness."  
Disclaimer: I don't own "Alias" or any of the characters in it, which, although it makes me sad, is a good thing because I would completely screw it up.  
Classification / Genre: Adventure/Action  
Summary: Sydney must come to terms with her vengeful sister and what she has learned about her past.  
Rating: PG  
  
****CHAPTER ONE****  
  
Sydney paused in front of the CIA conference room, hugging herself desolately. She didn't want to go in there, didn't want to face the man who had called himself her father again-but when she nudged open the door with her foot and stepped inside, she found he wasn't there. Neither was Weiss. Just Vaughn, sitting at the table, looking through the files she had stolen from Sloane's office.  
  
He looked up when she came in and closed the folder. The silence that followed seemed unbearable. Vaughn watched Sydney; she watched him. Neither could think of anything to say. Finally Vaughn looked down at the ground, raising a hand to knead his forehead agitatedly. "Syd, I'm sorry," he said.  
  
As if those three words had startled her out of a daze, she crossed the room and sat down a few seats away from him. "He lied to me. Again." She struggled to keep her voice even.  
  
"I know."  
  
The tears welled up again and threatened to overflow. "*Sloane* is my father," she choked out, her voice taking on a note of hysteria.  
  
"I know." Vaughn paused, then said, "Jack said you ran away."  
  
She rubbed a hand across her eyes. "I couldn't take it, seeing him and knowing...I always idolized my mom. Then we found out about the codes, and her status as a KGB agent, and I thought she couldn't be any more horrible. But she is, she is...and the last shred of my family is gone," she sobbed, hiding her face in her hands. "Sloane...."  
  
Vaughn reached over tentatively to touch her shoulder. "It takes more than blood to make a father," he said softly.  
  
"It doesn't matter! He lied to me, they all lied to me! Every day my world shatters, and it's almost a relief because it means it can't get any worse, but then it *does.* I can't take it anymore."  
  
Vaughn didn't reply immediately. He rubbed her shoulder soothingly, then said, "Sydney, it's three o'clock in the morning. You should get some sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up, I promise. You're going to get through this."  
  
"I guess I have to, don't I. Otherwise the CIA will lose their precious double agent." She didn't even try to mask the bitterness in her voice as she raised her head. "You can't know what this feels like. Your dad was perfect. But he died anyway-did the agency even care? We're pawns to them, Vaughn. Maybe I'm just a pawn to you." She heard herself baiting him and couldn't stop. She wanted someone else to hurt like she was hurting.  
  
She could feel the effort it took for him not to snap back. He took several deep breaths before replying and his voice was shaky when he did. "You know you're not a pawn to me. I know what you're doing. It's the same thing I did when my father died. I drove away some of my closest friends that way."  
  
"You're not my goddam psychologist so stop acting like it. If you're saying that I'm driving you away, fine. I'm sure the CIA would love to assign me another handler."  
  
He sighed. "No, I'm saying that I know you need someone to take your anger out on and I'm the closest person right now. I understand that. So say anything you want and tomorrow I promise I'll forget it all," he said evenly.  
  
All her raging emotions drained out of her at once. She stared at him in surprise, horrified and ashamed.  
  
Vaughn smiled crookedly. "You're right, I'm not a psychologist. I know the merits of reverse-psychology, though."  
  
"Vaughn--"  
  
"It's okay," he cut her off.  
  
Sydney shook her head vehemently. "No it's not, you stuck around for hours on the off chance that I'd come back and all I can do is yell at you. You didn't deserve that."  
  
"I told you, I understand. You've gone through a lot in these past few weeks. Now, what I want to know is if you'd look through the rest of this folder without me having to go hide behind a chair or something." When she nodded, he handed her the file marked "K.S." Kesi Sloane. Her sister.  
  
Vaughn watched her warily while she went through the different papers and pictures, but there was nothing in there that she didn't expect. Birth certificates for Sydney and Kesi Sloane, pictures of a younger Arvin Sloane with a little girl who looked like herself, letters exchanged between a "darling daughter" and a father who was rarely home. A log of Kesi's progress after she was recruited to SD-6.  
  
Sydney closed the folder wordlessly and handed it back to Vaughn. He stifled a yawn, then glanced at his watch. "Almost four. You'll be okay?"  
  
She nodded. "I'll explain it to Francie somehow and go back to Tahoe first thing tomorrow morning."  
  
"You can't let Sloane know you came back-"  
  
"Or he'll kill me. I know," Sydney said soberly. "I'll call you when I get there."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
A brief smile flashed across her cut face. "Thank you for everything, Vaughn."  
  
"Hold on a second. This is sounding too much like a good-bye for my taste," he replied, grinning. "You need sleep and so do I, or Devlin will have my head. Have a relaxing time in Tahoe."  
  
"I'd better."  
  
* * * *  
  
"A security breach," Sloane repeated slowly, thumbing through the report on his desk. He looked at the security officer standing before him, who fidgeted under his disapproving gaze.  
  
"Yes, sir," the officer stuttered. "It looked like Sydney Bristow, sir."  
  
Sloane raised an eyebrow. "Sydney?"  
  
"But my men didn't get a good look," the officer put in hastily. "It may not have been Miss Bristow."  
  
"Whoever it was, she got away?" Sloane knew perfectly well that she had, but the officer deserved to squirm a little. It was the incompetence of his security team that had led to the loss of the files on Pennsylvania and Kesi. *If it was Sydney, I'll find out soon enough.*  
  
"Yes, sir." He swallowed and looked down at his feet.  
  
Sloane sighed loudly. "Very well. There's nothing we can do about it now. You are dismissed." The officer fled.  
  
*I'll find out soon enough.* 


	2. Confrontation

Author's Note: Complete chapter posted now! -Ashni  
  
****CHAPTER TWO****  
  
//Will-Charlie asked me to come with him to visit his parents in Maryland. I'll be back Saturday. If you use anything, replace it, or I'll make sure Syd comes after you when she gets back. - Francie//  
  
Sydney picked up the slip of paper on the kitchen table and put it back with a sigh. She had one thing to be thankful for, at least. As long as Will wasn't planning to drop by before noon, she could make it back to Tahoe with nobody the wiser.  
  
She left her bags by a chair and curled up, exhausted, on the couch. She rolled her head in slow circles in an attempt to relieve some of the tension from her neck, but her strength failed her and she let her head fall back on the pillows. Within moments she had fallen deeply asleep.  
  
* * * *  
  
She woke up a few hours later to a faint scratching that seemed to come from one of the back rooms. Senses alert, she slid soundlessly off the couch and crouched on the floor. A thin creak reached her ears, then the sound of glass being removed. Sydney had broken through enough windows to recognize what was happening now.  
  
Heart pounding, she crawled around the couch and pressed up against the wall. The room was still, lit by soft moonlight but barely more than lumps of shadow. Nothing stirred. Through the wall she could hear the scrape of drawers sliding out and back in. The floor vibrated almost imperceptibly in time with the thumps of objects hitting the floor.  
  
She flinched at the unmistakable, shrill sound of glass shattering. One picture frame at least was gone. Someone inside the room muttered obscenities, the words almost sobs.  
  
Sydney cautiously moved backwards, keeping her eye on the door to her room. From the protection of her kitchen table, she fished through her bags-still packed and ready for the trip to Tahoe-until she felt the smooth cardboard of her disposable camera. With it clutched in her hand, she quickly crossed back to the doorway.  
  
The darkness hid her as she peered inside. A woman stood with her back to her, rifling through her drawers and flinging the contents on the ground with muffled growls. Sydney's mouth tightened as she realized who it was, even as her eyes filled with tears.  
  
"Kesi Sloane," she choked out. Her twin whirled around, eyes glinting with rage when she recognized who had found her. With a shout, she launched herself at Sydney, face twisted with hatred.  
  
In response, Sydney aimed the camera at Kesi. The flash lit the room briefly, shadows angling sharply away from the two sisters. Kesi raised her hands to cover her eyes. She stumbled into the bed and in that moment Sydney had thrown down the camera and attacked her.  
  
Half-blinded as she was, Kesi offered little resistance. Sydney pinned her to the wall, twisting one arm behind her back. "What are you doing in my apartment?" she demanded, voice trembling. "What the hell are you doing?"  
  
"Taking back...what is...mine..." Kesi spun around suddenly and kicked Sydney in the stomach, sending her reeling back in pain. Sydney ducked out of the way as shots peppered the wall where she had just been.  
  
"You're insane!" she gasped, lurching out of the doorway, where she was an easy target.  
  
"Better than being a bitch," Kesi spat. "Better than being a traitorous, disloyal bitch of a daughter."  
  
Sydney sprinted for her front door. She pulled it open and dove outside. She could hear more glass shattering and the muffled thuds of bullets burying themselves in thick wood. Kesi shouted after her as she climbed into her car and backed out of the driveway, the engine protesting loudly.  
  
She forced herself to calm down as she maneuvered the car down the streets of her neighborhood. The trees loomed at her out of the darkness, creating a shadowy tunnel. She needed to call Vaughn, needed to let him know that Kesi was here and she was out for murder...the car veered as she cursed in realization. Her cell phone was back at her house. Vaughn couldn't help her now.  
  
Tires screeched behind her. Sydney struggled to focus as she skidded around the corner, smoothly guiding the car through a mazelike pattern of roads and turns that she hoped Kesi wouldn't be able to follow. *Well, that answers one question that I didn't really want answered,* she thought to herself wryly, pressing harder on the gas pedal. *She obviously had a car waiting. Crap!*  
  
Headlights reappeared in her rearview mirror, steadily drawing nearer. She turned down a side street. The car cleared a tree at the corner just as bullets sent bark flying. All that could be seen of her doppelganger was the murderous glint of brown eyes set in a shadowy silhouette. Sydney crouched over the wheel, looking away from the swiftly closing gap of the two cars.  
  
As they hit a long, straight stretch, she risked another glance in her mirrors. Her eyes widened. She threw herself onto the wheel and felt the car shake as gunshots rang out in the disrupted night. *If she hits a tire, I'm dead!*  
  
She made as if to pass the first intersection that appeared and slowed down, letting Kesi catch up slightly. When she suddenly swerved to the right, the other car flew right past. *A couple of seconds gained.* An angry screech rent the air from beyond the row of houses blocking Sydney's view of her sister's pursuit. *Less than I thought.* The headlights came back into view. She harbored no illusions that the same trick would work twice.  
  
Sydney watched with growing dread as Kesi pulled closer and closer. The crack of splintered wood pulled her back to her own position: she'd broken through a roadblock. An ominous shadow loomed ahead and she could see no way past. Driving one-handedly and keeping a terrified eye on the darkness ahead, she worked frantically to unlock the driver's door.  
  
Kesi could be no more than twenty meters away; that number was quickly dropping. Sydney reached the end of open road just as her door swung open. She pulled her car into a ninety-degree turn to block the lane and flung herself into the night. The last thing she heard was the horrific crunch as Kesi plowed into her car. 


	3. The Ultimate Test

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. This chapter isn't the greatest, since I've never been in a serious car accident....still enjoy, and PLEASE read and review! -Ashni  
  
****CHAPTER THREE****  
  
Sirens careened faintly in the distance. Sydney raised her head cautiously, just in time to see Kesi's shadowy figure run from the crash scene. She didn't dare stand-she wasn't feeling too steady as it was-but she crawled a few feet away to look around her mangled car. The approaching flashing lights immediately blinded her and she lay down again, putting a hand to her forehead.  
  
When she opened her eyes again policemen stood all around the wreck, taking down the license plate of Kesi's car and making sure no one had been trapped inside. Another officer knelt beside her. Relief at seeing her conscious showed plainly on his face.  
  
"You're not hurt," he assured her. "I don't know how you got out of that car in time, but it looks like it saved your life. Can you tell me what happened?"  
  
Sydney sat up slowly, the man hovering concernedly over her every movement. Although appearing outwardly dazed, her mind raced to come up with an explanation. "I was on my way to...to Tahoe. My friend called to say she wouldn't be home until Saturday, but the line suddenly went dead...I was worried, understandably." Her voice had gained confidence-although not too much, as that would give her away-and the lies fell easily from her lips. None of them would hold up for too long under scrutiny, but hopefully the CIA would talk to the police before then.  
  
"I came back and this car suddenly came out of nowhere and started chasing me. I tried to get away, but she cornered me here so I just jumped out."  
  
"She? So you saw your pursuer?"  
  
Sydney scrambled to cover her mistake. "No, I never saw a face. For some reason I just assumed it was a she, I guess." She smiled weakly, hoping the officer would let the subject drop. He did.  
  
"Okay. Do you feel well enough to stand?" At her nod, he stood himself and held out a hand. She took it gratefully, letting him lead her to a police car. "I'll take you down to headquarters. We need to ask you some questions and double-check to make sure you have no internal injuries, then you can go home."  
  
* * * *  
  
Sydney stumbled through her front door forty-five minutes later, ushered in by the sunlight that by now had turned night to day. Fathers were going off to work, mothers off to the store, children off to school. Her eyelids seemed to be acting with a will of their own, closing unexpectedly as the ache for sleep grew greater.  
  
The bullet holes and splintered wood didn't seem quite so menacing in the daylight, but she nevertheless felt reluctant to enter her bedroom. Somehow, evidence that Kesi had gone through her possessions would make this too real. The broken picture frames and haphazard clothing stood as reminders of the mess that had been her life. In the space of one night, she had found a sister and narrowly escaped murder by that sister twice. And her father...  
  
She shook her head. She didn't want to think about her father right now. Or the man who had called himself her father. Or anything except sleep.  
  
Sydney finally decided to leave her room for later and curled up on the couch, heedless of her shoes and the painful brightness of the room. She felt herself slipping away into much needed rest and welcomed it gratefully.  
  
The harsh ring of the phone broke through her thoughts. Groaning, she reached for her phone, then realized it was her cell phone ringing. She turned it on and fell back on the couch again.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Sydney?" Normally, she would have welcomed the familiar voice, but at the moment all she thought of was that it had interrupted her sleep.  
  
"Who do you think it is, Vaughn?" she replied irritably.  
  
"Thank God....I have a friend down at the police station, he told me you'd been in an accident. He refused to give me any details, though."  
  
"Kesi tried to kill me."  
  
"She *what*?"  
  
"Yeah, I know, she already tried that. She must be really after me, though. She broke into my house and then chased me out."  
  
The stunned silence on the other end gave her a chance to close her eyes. She let the phone rest on her shoulder and draped her arms over the couch.  
  
"Syd?" The worry in Vaughn's voice told her he must have repeated her name at least once. She picked up the phone again, not bothering to hide her sigh.  
  
"Vaughn, I've just spent the whole night running for my life. I'm so tired right now I can't even say. Please, can we talk about this tomorrow....later today?"  
  
She knew this wouldn't satisfy him, but there was nothing he could do. "Yeah. Give me a call when you wake up. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."  
  
"Thanks." Before they could start talking again, she turned off the phone and placed it on the side table. She leaned back on the pillow and let herself be swept away by sleep.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Someone broke into our house?"  
  
"Francie, it's all right. If Will asks, I need you to tell him you called me when the break-in happened and that's why I came home. I really can't deal with him asking too many questions about this right now..."  
  
"I understand. I'll tell him. But Syd, you seriously need to tell me what's going on."  
  
"Later. I promise." *Another promise I can never keep. I'm so sorry.*  
  
"Okay. I'll be back Saturday."  
  
"I saw the note. Have fun in Maryland. I need to go assure other people I'm still alive."  
  
"Love you." *Click.*  
  
"May I talk to Agent Vaughn please? Tell him it's Sydney."  
  
A wait, then: "Sydney?"  
  
"I promised you I'd tell you about what happened with Kesi. Do you have time right now?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Okay." *Finally I can tell the whole story without worrying about truth and lies...*  
  
"She just ran off?"  
  
"I was just regaining consciousness."  
  
"Be careful..."  
  
"The police have been driving rings around my house. I'll be okay."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Look, I have to go-my pager's going crazy."  
  
"SD-6?"  
  
*Sloane-911.* "Yeah."  
  
"You'll be okay. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Okay. Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Sydney sank down on the couch, the cell phone falling noiselessly beside her. Now would come the ultimate test. The stakes were her life. If she failed now, she'd end up as just another corpse lying in a bathtub.  
  
She stood up, arranged her purse on her shoulder, and left the house. The ultimate test. 


	4. Back at the Job

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! :-) -Ashni  
  
****CHAPTER FOUR****  
  
Sydney could feel all eyes on her as she made her way through the crowded SD-6 office. "Not now," she said as Dixon stood up at his desk and opened his mouth to speak.  
  
He ignored her, hovering by her shoulder as she stalked to Sloane's office. "Sloane said you were on vacation," he whispered.  
  
"He paged me. Why?"  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his lips tighten. "There was a break-in at the office last night," he said, looking around. "Sloane assured us that nothing was stolen, that the intruder was scared away in time, but...Syd, something's not right. And now, you tell me he paged you. I have a bad feeling about this."  
  
*Sloane assured us that nothing was stolen.* She had left the file cabinet wide open; Sloane must have noticed the missing files. What did he have to gain by covering it up? "So do I," she muttered.  
  
They reached Sloane's door. "If I find anything out, I'll let you know," she assured Dixon as she reached for the handle.  
  
The door opened before she touched it and she jumped back, startled. *Calm, Sydney.* She took a deep breath to compose herself and looked Sloane in the eye. Underneath her calm exterior, her emotions roiled. Knowing that he was her father had changed everything. It both stoked her hate and tempered it.  
  
"Sydney." His voice was cold, dispassionate. He was too disciplined to give anything away in his manner, but she would be a poor agent indeed if she had worked with this man for seven years without learning anything about him. That brief flash in his eyes when he saw her-the robbery last night had made him suspicious and he was looking for something. Something that her appearance here had just confirmed.  
  
"You paged me."  
  
"I expected the drive from Tahoe to take more than half an hour," he said, an expectant, feral smile twitching his lips.  
  
Dixon looked around at both of them uncomfortably and made a motion to leave. "I should get back to my work," he murmured. Sloane didn't even spare him a glance as he all but ran from the suddenly tense hallway.  
  
"There were complications," Sydney replied, allowing no emotion to creep into her voice. "I never reached Tahoe. Someone broke into my house last night and on my way back to check on things, another car slammed into mine. Hit-and-run. The police are still tracing the license plate."  
  
"I see." Sloane's eyes ran over her cuts and bruises and his brow knit. When he looked up to meet her eyes again, his face was full of nothing but polite concern. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm fine," she said coolly.  
  
"Good." He moved out of the doorway and down the hall to the briefing room. "I'm sorry to have called you back from vacation, but something terrible has happened and I'm expecting you to set it right."  
  
"Dixon told me about the break-in last night--"  
  
"That's not it. But your concern is appreciated. Thankfully, nothing was stolen." He placed a light stress on the last words: just enough warning before he turned smoothly around to examine her expression. She let nothing show and took a seat at the table as if she couldn't feel the intensity of his scrutiny burning into her.  
  
"Thankfully," she echoed.  
  
"Nothing was stolen last night, but last week K-Directorate took over one of our buildings in England, a converted laboratory that we were planning to abandon soon. Normally they would not dare such a move. Somehow they found out that our forces are spread too thinly for a counterattack."  
  
"You want me to find the leak," Sydney hazarded.  
  
Sloane handed her a folder. "No. I want you to retrieve the one piece of information in that building that cannot, under any circumstances, fall into K-Directorate hands. There is a map there with the location of every cell of SD-6. With this map, K-Directorate could launch an all-out assault that could wipe us out."  
  
She looked carefully at Sloane. There was nothing in his expression to hint that this may be a trap, but she felt sure it was. Her heart sank. This was all just a clever way to murder her quietly, out of the country where no one would ever know.  
  
But the way he watched her made feel there was something more to this. A test, perhaps, instead of an assassination.  
  
Before she could think more about it, Sloane had switched on the computers and a picture of a squat, rectangular building stared up at her from the screen. The walls were stark white, but windows stretching almost completely from corner to corner saved it from any illusion of severity it might have otherwise presented.  
  
She looked up. "There's nothing but open landscape for at least two hundred meters around there. How am I supposed to get in?"  
  
"Through a series of underground passages I ordered dug two decades ago." Sloane pressed a button on the remote and a dimly-lit forest appeared on the screen. "At the edge of these woods is the entrance into these passages. Inside the folder"-he gestured-"you'll find a set of photos. Memorize them. They are the path to the entrance. There is also a limited schematic of the tunnels that will lead you to the room where the map is being held."  
  
Sydney flipped through the papers inside briefly to make sure the pictures and schematic were in there. Satisfied, she turned back to Sloane. "How do we know K-Directorate doesn't already have the map?"  
  
"It's under the strictest surveillance. K-Directorate might have been able to bypass the alarm system, but the sensors around it are impossible to turn off. We always know if someone's removed it, authorized or not."  
  
"Right." She nodded, filing away that bit of information for future reference. "If that's it, I'll go tell Dixon."  
  
"Dixon won't be going."  
  
Sydney looked at him incredulously. "I can't handle something of this magnitude alone."  
  
"I didn't say you'd be working alone. You'll have backup, but I don't feel Dixon is fit for this sort of mission." Sloane leaned back in his chair, watching her intently.  
  
"Then who's going with me?" she asked cautiously.  
  
"I'm sending your father and one other secret agent whom you've never met." He nodded, eyes focused on some point beyond her head. Sydney heard the door behind her open. She turned around and barely stifled the instinctive cry that came to her lips.  
  
The person standing at the door was Kesi. 


	5. The Wrong Decision

A/N: Again, thank you so much for the reviews! They mean a lot to mean and provide so much encouragement. Also, this story will be a little longer than the others. I still have one full chapter to go, plus an epilogue. -Ashni  
  
****CHAPTER FIVE****  
  
//My mission is to go to England and retrieve a map of SD-6 from an office that's been taken over by K-Directorate through a series of underground tunnels. I'm worried this is a trap. Sloane "introduced" me to Kesi today. I don't know what's going on. I know what my counter mission will be, but I'm not even sure if I'll make it to England.//  
  
Sydney paused, biting her lip, then crumpled up the paper bag. She slung her bag over her shoulder and stood up, almost running into the man she'd known as her dad.  
  
"Sloane told me he had you meet Kesi," Jack murmured. He avoided looking at her, eyes darting from one passerby to the next.  
  
"Yes. He did." She stared at him coldly.  
  
"How did he explain her...ah, resemblance to you?"  
  
"He told me it was classified information. Which is far more than you ever told me."  
  
Jack didn't reply. "He told you we'll be working together on this mission?"  
  
"No, we're not."  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"I said we're not. I refuse to work with you, and as far as I'm concerned, this is our last conversation as well." She turned away and threw the paper bag into the nearest trash can with such force that a few stray bits of paper rose into the air before slowly settling down again.  
  
"Are you crazy?" He grabbed her arm, jerking her back harshly to face him. "I know you're angry--I even understand why, dammit--but if you refuse to work with me, Sloane will know you've seen those files. And when that happens," he said in a softer voice, letting go and stepping back, "Your life will be worth less than nothing to him."  
  
"You don't know that," Sydney countered. "And why should you? He's done more to protect my life than you ever have."  
  
Jack recoiled as if she had slapped him. The unmasked shock in his face was enough to make Sydney momentarily sorry that she had gone so far. *He lied to me, now he has to accept the consequences.* The thought reinforced her wavering resolve and she straightened unconsciously, looking him coolly in the eye.  
  
He took a deep breath. "Sydney--"  
  
"I'm doing this alone." With that, she turned on her heel and left. Jack watched her go, the distant, stalwart man of a few moments ago nowhere to be seen. Long after she had disappeared from sight he stayed there, but she did not come back.  
  
* * * *  
  
Sydney paced back and forth in the warehouse, deserted except for her and Vaughn. She knew there was something she was missing, some key piece of information that would give her the clue to completing this mission with her life that kept eluding for her. Every topic led her in circles back to Kesi's unexpected appearance. "She fooled K-Directorate once. It's not likely to happen again, so it makes no sense for Sloane to send her--"  
  
"Unless it's a test," Vaughn completed. He sighed. "You said she's tried to kill you twice now; he may be hoping she'll get another chance. Damn. I wish we could pull you off this mission somehow, but we can't afford the risk."  
  
"I know. It'll just confirm whatever suspicions he may be holding. Look, do you want me to take a picture of the map or copy it?"  
  
"Picture. Here. It's basically the same as the one I gave you for Pennsylvania." Vaughn handed her the miniature camera, but his voice was distracted. "Be careful."  
  
She tucked the camera into her purse. "Yeah, I know. I will be."  
  
"I'm serious. If you have to give up the map to save your life, give up the map. Don't risk your life to....Syd, just get back here alive."  
  
She tried to smile at him reassuringly, but she couldn't hide the very real fear in her eyes. "I'll do my best."  
  
As she left, she could feel the concern radiating from him and knew he was wondering if she'd make it back alive. Privately, she wondered, too.  
  
* * * *  
  
Journal,  
  
I'm being sent on a mission to England. I'm supposed to provide a distraction for Sydney. Again. This is more than it seems; I'm sure of it. I perplexed K-Directorate before with my appearance and Father is too smart to believe that same trick will work again. No, he has something else in mind.  
  
He had me meet her today. He's still absolutely blind to our meeting in Pennsylvania, which would have mystified me before but now seems only to be expected. Why would that bitch tell him she'd met me when all she wanted was to work against him, anyway? So obviously he doesn't know. So obviously a little accident won't make him suspicious.  
  
Maybe he wants me to kill her. Maybe he found out about the way she stole those files the other night and he's hoping I'll get rid of her. Maybe if I do, I'll have finally proved my loyalty to him and he'll promote me in her place.  
  
Of course! Why didn't I see it before? Father would never trust anyone with a map of all the SD-6 cells: not me, not her. There we'll be, in England, surrounded by K-Directorate forces. If she happens to be caught by the Russian agency, well, it's just a risk of the job, isn't it? Then she's dead, we're rid of a double-crossing spy, and we don't spend any effort getting a map that Father never expected to get back anyway.  
  
Except Father wasn't counting on me. I'll do my job, all right. I'll get rid of her. But I will also get that map and return it to him. Then he'll hug me like he used to; *love* me like he used to. He'll realize that he made the wrong decision seven years ago when he recruited her, not me.  
  
Yours,  
Kesi 


	6. The Dangers of England

A/N: Epilogue will hopefully come soon. Thanks to everyone reading, especially those of you leaving reviews! -Ashni  
  
****CHAPTER SIX****  
  
The low white building glowed dimly in the descending night. Sydney crouched behind a clump of bushes a few hundred yards off and pulled out the binoculars Marshall had given her. With her fingernail she flicked a small switch, turning on a mini recorder as she scoped out the complex. Shadowy patrols became clear in the windows and at ground level.  
  
She switched the recorder off again and stowed the binoculars in her jacket. She ran her hands down her bulletproof vest nervously. If what she expected to happen, happened, this vest would be the only thing between her and death at Kesi's hands. That and her wits.  
  
Kesi didn't even have to kill her herself. All she had to do was alert the K-Directorate guards to the presence of an intruder in the building and Sydney was as good as dead. Somehow, though, Sydney didn't think that would suit her twin. Kesi seemed too determined, too filled with hate to entrust the job to another. Which meant the night would likely end with a confrontation between the two sisters.  
  
*Your wits, Syd. Don't lose them now.* She closed her eyes and slowly regained control over the fear and desperation that had surged up so suddenly. Then she turned around to disappear into the dense cover of the forest.  
  
It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but the overwhelming blankness finally consolidated as a pattern of trees and shadows. She let her instincts take over and lead her through the route she had memorized from the photographs, then down into the underground passages and through them. The limited map Sloane had given her proved to be limited indeed, but she focused on the endless left, right, left, left, right, left, right until she had crawled back out into the light.  
  
Sydney hid behind a stairwell as she reoriented herself. The long halls stretching out around her looked as bleak in their own way as the mental institution where she had found Shepard, but she could sense that once they had held the airy openness that the outside suggested.  
  
She made her way to the heart of the building, keeping close to the walls. Faint shouts and the absence of guards told her that Kesi was providing the promised distraction. But for how long?  
  
*Don't think about that. Just find the room: 401, 403, 405...not on this side. 402, storage closet, 404. The map should be here.*  
  
Cautiously, she raised her head to look into the room. It was deserted and the door was ajar, as if the guards had left in a hurry. With a satisfied smile, she darted inside and went immediately to a wide metal box in the far corner. A key in her vest unlocked it easily, revealing several pages filled with a detailed map. Thousands of names and signs labeled the map in a tiny scrawl. She could hardly contain her excitement as she snapped pictures with the CIA camera and perhaps that was why the soft footsteps behind her escaped her normally-sensitive hearing.  
  
A heavy object slammed into Sydney's head. Agony swept over her senses. She collapsed to the floor soundlessly as her own voice hissed "I've been waiting for this opportunity, sister," in her ear.  
  
* * * *  
  
Sydney woke up to semidarkness and the scratch of twine knotted around her wrists. She tried to put a hand to her throbbing forehead groggily, but the person in front of her stood up abruptly and Sydney found herself face-to-face with a fully loaded gun. Three thin bands of light illuminated her captor's face.  
  
"Kesi. Where are we?" she asked, keeping her voice level. She'd be damned if she'd let Kesi see how much she unnerved her.  
  
Her sister motioned threateningly with the gun. "Quiet. We're in the storage closet, and if you call out I warn you, there are two K-Directorate guards standing in the room next to us."  
  
"What about the map?"  
  
Kesi patted her jacket smugly. "Father will be so pleased."  
  
At the word "Father," Sydney wanted to retch. Her sister, this inhuman beast standing before her, shared a father with herself. Her skin crawled. All the years she had hated the man she'd thought was her father: none of it compared to this.  
  
"How long have you worked for SD-6?"  
  
"What?" Kesi's unexpected question caught her by surprise.  
  
Kesi's jaw tightened. "I said, how long have you worked for SD-6?"  
  
"Seven years."  
  
"And how many of those seven years have you been working against him?"  
"I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"You bitch, of course you know what I'm talking about. The helicopter in Pennsylvania, breaking into his office, stealing those files...he'll find out the truth soon enough." She released the safety and for a moment it appeared she would shoot. With an obvious force of will her expression turned calm again.  
  
"I've never done anything against you," Sydney said suddenly, aware that she could unwittingly provoke Kesi with her words. "Why are you doing this?"  
  
A flash of pain crossed Kesi's face, quickly masked.  
  
"Because you had everything. Because you grew up happy, perfect, loved-and I grew up in your shadow. He didn't even tell you about me, did he?"  
  
Sydney didn't have to ask who "he" was. "No," she admitted. Kesi's finger tightened on the trigger and she braced herself. Closing her eyes, she whispered a silent apology to Vaughn. And Francie. And Will. Everyone who would suffer when Sloane discovered her betrayal.  
  
The sounds of a small scuffle outside startled both Kesi and Sydney out of their thoughts. Sydney watched, half fearful and half resigned, as Kesi stood ready to shoot anyone who came through the door. The scuffle quickly subsided, however, and Kesi trained her gun once again on Sydney.  
  
"Enough of this. I'm tired of living my life around you."  
  
The door swung open, flooding the room with light. As Kesi raised a hand to shield her eyes, a single gunshot echoed through the hall. Sydney felt unable to tear her eyes away as her sister stumbled back, looking down at the red stain spreading across her shirt. An eternity passed as time stood frozen.  
  
Then everything sped up again. Kesi fell to the ground heavily, her gun landing a foot away. Instincts rushed back to Sydney and she worked at the inexpert knots keeping her captive. A few twists and loops and she was free. She lunged for the gun and backed up against a wall, aiming at the man standing in the door.  
  
Jack Bristow.  
  
She let the gun fall to her side, speechless. Jack swallowed. He looked about to speak, but looked down at Kesi and then turned away. "We should go," he muttered, avoiding eye contact. Sydney could hear the increasingly loud thumps of K-Directorate guards as they came to investigate the gunshot.  
  
"I-"  
  
"The halls won't remain clear for long. Get the map and follow me." He disappeared from her sight.  
  
Still numb from shock, she crouched beside Kesi, unzipping her jacket pocket to retrieve the map. The corner was red with the dying woman's blood. She paused as the truth of that hit her. This map was stained by more than Kesi's blood. The blood of every person SD-6 had killed, every target, every grieving family member, had dyed it a bright crimson that would never fade.  
  
Maybe this map would prove the key to finally taking down SD-6. It could never erase the wrongs that had been done, or bring back even a single man shot in his bathtub because of the woman he loved, but it would protect those to come.  
  
"Sydney?"  
  
"I'll be right there, Father." She tucked the map into her pocket and stood up, prepared to leave.  
  
Kesi whispered something weakly. Reluctantly, Sydney turned back to her sister, dying at her feet. For a moment, she had a glimpse of how things could have been. Two girls, identical pigtails bouncing, running along the beach as the sun slowly set. Secrets whispered in the dark amongst giggles. The perfect family, growing up as it should have been. Not shattered. Not like this. "What is it?"  
  
"He's not...your father..."  
  
The words caught Sydney aback. Her mouth tightened in brief sorrow. The red glare of the sun setting over the beach thickened into blood and the secrets in the dark were no longer secrets, but knives. Sloane's face grinned at her, cold and ruthless. Like pawns on a chessboard, he had manipulated them all, setting sister against sister and father against daughter. In a war of kings and pawns, knights and rooks, there could be no family. Just a war, surging towards an unknown finale.  
  
She looked down at Kesi and forced a smile on her face. "Yes. He is." The shock on Kesi's face slowly cleared into the blank mask of death. The hate that had sustained her for so long had finally run out and all Sydney could see were might-have-beens. Blinking back tears, she ran from the storage room to the escape her father offered. 


	7. Epilogue: More Than Blood

A/N: The last part of "Familiar Face"! There's another, separate story ready to be written, don't worry. And I also wrote another fic called "As the Shot Went Off" if you're interested. End shameless plug. ^_^  
  
Quick question. Would anyone be interested in hearing more about Kesi? Maybe a short story about her relationship to her father and how she was recruited? I wouldn't expect it to be a big review-getter, since I understand it's not about a well-known or -loved character, but I'd just write it as an exercise. I thrive on reviews, however, and if no one would review I won't write it.  
  
If you don't feel you'd be interested and don't really want to say so, just don't mention anything about it and I'll take it as a no. :-) I have a hard time answering questions with no, but I don't want a bunch of false yes's, so...anyway.  
  
Thanks again SO MUCH to everyone reviewing! -Ashni  
  
****EPILOGUE****  
  
Sydney kept her head bowed as she reported to Sloane, her voice dull with what she hoped would be interpreted as sorrow. "I didn't even know she was shot," she murmured, remembering the words she had once used to lie to Dixon's life and taking hidden delight in the irony, "She kept running, leading them away from me. We both got out to the forest, and she just--fell."  
  
"Fell." Sloane's voice betrayed nothing and Sydney risked a look up.  
  
"She died instantly. I tried to drag her body away, but..." She shook her head.  
  
"I see. Well, this is a grievous loss, you understand. Still, she died fulfilling her place and you managed to get the map back." This cold dismissal of Kesi's death filled Sydney momentarily with pity for the sister she had never truly known. Under other circumstances, so much could be different.  
  
But then, under other circumstances, she could have been another Kesi. Cold, murderous, trained to kill without mercy. Her sympathy melted away.  
  
"If that's all, I need to notify Kesi's family of her death," Sloane said, watching her closely.  
  
"That's all." Sydney met his gaze and turned away. As her fingers touched the handle, she acted as if she'd just remembered something and walked back to stand in front of Sloane's desk. She waited patiently until he acknowledged her.  
  
"I forgot to tell you. I found these on her. I didn't have a chance to look at them closely, but I figured you'd want to see." From her jacket, she withdrew the folders she had stolen and handed them calmly to Sloane.  
  
His surprise was not obvious, but Sydney noticed his eyes twitch and smiled inwardly, satisfied. Without another word, she turned her back on him and all that she had suffered since that fateful kidnapping in Pennsylvania. She closed the door behind her and turned the corner-  
And almost crashed into Jack Bristow.  
  
The two agents stood staring in the hallway, shock evident in both their faces.  
  
"Sydney, um..."  
  
"What is it?" she finally asked softly, when he stopped.  
  
"Would you, ah, walk with me? I don't know if you have something to do--"  
  
She tried to contain the joy that leapt within her at his words, replying calmly, "I'm not doing anything."  
  
Jack smiled at her uncertainly and they left the bank to walk outside. The trees lining the block swayed gently in the breeze, releasing a few rich leaves to float down serenely around them. The cool air caressed them with feathery fingers and Sydney could almost forget that such horrors as SD-6 existed. On such a perfect day, how could the world be anything other than perfect, too?  
  
She was content simply to walk in silence and enjoy the peace around her, but Jack suddenly stopped. She stopped as well, leaning back against a tree. He took a deep breath.  
  
"In England, you...I mean, I heard Kesi tell you that I'm not your father...which, of course, you already knew...but I was wondering..." He trailed off.  
  
Sydney shook her head. "I don't know what you're asking."  
  
"I...what did you tell her?"  
  
She smiled, understanding, and took Jack's hand. "I told her she was wrong." Seeing his surprise, she went on softly. "Vaughn told me it takes more than blood to make a father." She chuckled ruefully and squeezed his hand. "He was right."  
  
Her father relaxed and tension that Sydney had never noticed before melted away. He returned her smile, then put an arm around her shoulder to pull her close. She let all her past grievances drain from her and buried her face in his shoulder, remembering how he had always been there for her in her childhood. Through skinned knees and broken dolls, his steady strength had supported her. She had thought that love, that support had disappeared, but she had been wrong. She knew now that it had never disappeared, and that it would never go away.  
  
THE END  
  
************  
  
Hope you enjoyed! -Ashni 


	8. Ombretta: Sneak Preview!

Sneak preview of "Ombretta." Yes, it is coming--I'm going to work on a Credit Dauphine challenge piece (Plug for Hil: the site's finally up and it's SO AWESOME, so check it out!!! http://www.creditdauphine.net. See? Not hard.) and then come back and see if I can figure out how to organize this story. I really don't want to end up using those stupid journal entries like I did in Familiar Face, but I'm not sure where to jump into Kesi's life. I have a few ideas, I just need time to play them out. :-) Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and I hope you mean it when you say you want to see Kesi's stoy. lol! -Ashni  
  
* * * *  
  
Kesi looked at the picture, of her sister smiling next to the man who had stolen her mother away and gotten her killed. She couldn't explain why seeing Sydney's innocence tore at her so much, or whether the emotions raging through her were of guilt or anger. All she knew was that she wanted her sister to pay for the privileged life she'd been born into.  
  
In one violent motion she slammed the picture frame onto the floor. The glass skidded out across the wood floor and lay there, twinkling at her in the milky moonlight. The picture frame had broken neatly in half; the photograph itself was hardly bent. Furious, she snatched it up, heedless of the glass imbedding itself in her fingertips. In her hands the photograph was reduced to shredded paper.  
  
Let Sydney's life shatter as she had shattered this picture frame. All it took was one push and what had once been clear and solid shattered into a thousand irretrievable shards. No one had made that push yet, but Kesi would show her who was the stronger here. It was time for her sister to see her for what she was.  
  
Dangerous. Driven. Determined.  
  
Sydney would fear her.  
  
* * * *  
  
This little section will probably get reworked by the time it appears because I'm not too happy with it, but...yeah. More psychotic Kesi. ^_^ Also, Lil answered this already, but is there any particular aspect of Kesi's childhood that you'd like to see? No guarentee that it would be included, but I'll do my best. - Ashni 


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